Sloane Stephens says American women's tennis is thriving right now, but that the pandemic has players panicking about the future

• Sloane Stephens says American women's tennis is thriving right now, but that the COVID-19 pandemic has players panicking about their future.
• More women from the United States qualified for this year's Australian Open singles draw than from any other country.
• "We have a really good group of girls that support each other," Stephens told Insider.

Tennis star Sloane Stephens says American women's tennis is thriving right now, but that the COVID-19 pandemic has players panicking about their future in the sport.

Stephens was one of 16 American players who qualified for the Australian Open's women's singles this year - a figure that made the United States the most represented country within the draw.

She crashed out in the opening round after losing to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva.

However, of the remaining 15 who started the tournament, 11 went on to qualify for the second round, while five made it to the third.

Among those still in the draw are 20-year-old rising star Ann Li, 2020 US Open semifinalist Jennifer Brady, and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.

"American women's tennis is so strong right now across the board, and we have a really good group of girls that support each other," Stephens told Insider.

"Yes, we compete really hard during matches, but we also support each other off the court."

"There is so much that goes into competing and winning at this level," she added on her compatriot's prospects. "We'll just have to see how everything unfolds."

"Truly anything can happen on the court, and that's why we go to work every day.

It's always interesting in Australia as players are returning to play from the off-season, and the enhanced quarantine this year just adds another layer to that."

Stephens rose to prominence as a teenager at the 2013 Australian Open when she beat Williams en route to the semifinal, where she was beaten by eventual winner Victoria Azarenka.

Since then, the 27-year-old has won six WTA singles titles, including the 2017 US Open, reaching a career high ranking of third in the world in July 2018.

During 2020, however, she won just four of 15 matches she played and failed to go past the third round in any of her 11 tournaments - form that has seen her drop to world No. 39.

Though she hopes to turn things back around, Stephens says the global COVID-19 pandemic has her - and many of her peers - worried about the future.

With facilities closed, players sequestered in their homes, and the threat of contracting the virus always looming, Stephens says the only solution is "just making sure you're focusing on the controllables and not really anything else."

"That's like, literally the only thing I can control in this equation," Stephens said. "Which is crazy because there are so many variables and you're just like, what the heck is going on?"

"[I'm] just trying to figure out that process," she added. "Because [focusing on] everything else, you literally will just go crazy."

Luckily for Stephens, she has a partner who understands the trials and tribulations of professional athletics - and how they're compounded in the age of the novel coronavirus.

Her fiancé - US men's national team striker and Toronto F.C. star Jozy Altidore - is intimately familiar with the struggle of training and competing through the pandemic.

That mutual appreciation for each other's work has been stabilizing for the couple.

"I was in a bubble, he was in a bubble, and we've kind of gone back and forth," Stephens said. "But it's nice to have someone just in general that you spend a lot of time with that understands what you're going through."

"Not that we've ever been through a pandemic before."

Stephens spoke to Insider while promoting her new partnership with Quantum Energy Squares - a plant-based, coffee-infused snack.